Denver man sentenced to 16 years for injuring Douglas County deputy

A Denver man who injured a Douglas County Sheriff deputy after ramming his car in an attempt to evade arrest was sentenced to 16 years in prison Oct. 12, according to a press release from the 18th Judicial District.

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Denver man sentenced to 16 years for injuring Douglas County deputy

A Denver man who injured a Douglas County Sheriff deputy after ramming his car in an attempt to evade arrest Dec. 28, 2017, was sentenced to 16 years in prison Oct. 12, according to a press release from the 18th Judicial District.

Joshua Kane Soto, 32, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault/threatening a police officer with a weapon, a Class 3 felony. Soto also pleaded guilty to vehicular eluding, a Class 4 felony. He was sentenced to 16 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections by Douglas County District Court Judge Shay Whitaker.

The injured deputy gave a statement at the sentencing:

Soto “put himself, his passenger, other drivers and myself in an extremely dangerous situation,” the deputy told Whitaker in a statement read during sentencing. “This job is inherently dangerous and a profession I elected to take on and thoroughly love to do. With that said, when unforeseen injuries due to selfish, reckless and dangerous people impact others around me, the impact is hard to define.”

Soto recently moved to California and was already on bond in Colorado in a felony case. According to the release, Soto’s GPS ankle monitor stopped working, and he did not report the issue. Deputies tried to pick him up Dec. 27, 2017. Soto fled in a rented Chrysler Sebring.

Deputies tried to pull Soto over Dec. 28 near C-470 and University Boulevard. Soto sped away from deputies, who pursued him onto northbound Interstate 25. Soto turned around at Arapahoe Road, heading southbound toward Douglas County. A marked patrol car tried to stop Soto, and Soto drove across several lanes of traffic and rammed the patrol car into a barrier. Soto backed up, drove forward and rammed the car a second time.

The deputy injured his ankle and required stitches to a cut on his forehead. Other deputies eventually got Soto off the interstate and onto westbound County Line Road. He stopped the car near Mercury Drive and Saturn Drive, where Soto was arrested.

“The flow of those few days in December causes the court the gravest concern," Whitaker said. “It was your actions that were going to dictate how this ended…You were a threat to the officers and to this community.”